Sherlock Holmes Case 03: The Abduction of the Count´s Son: Secret Cases of the Master Detective

By Marc Gruppe, Stephan Bosenius and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A kidnapped boy. Impenetrable circumstances. A case for Sherlock Holmes.

The son of Count Schönburg disappears from the garden of the family villa in broad daylight. It quickly becomes clear that he is the victim of a kidnapping and that his life is hanging by a thread.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson travel to Vienna to take on the case. Their investigations initially focus on the immediate environment. The relatives, with whom the Schönburgs have had no contact for years, have a number of skeletons in their cupboards and do not seem particularly upset about the boy’s misfortune.

The master detective’s enquiry uncovers a host of suspects with strong motives, but no concrete evidence – and every day without a solution puts the boy in increasing danger.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Titania Medien
• Release date: Dec 15, 2025
• ISBN: 9783690270052

Marc Gruppe

After graduating from high school, Marc Gruppe studied theatre and modern German literature. In the course of numerous internships, he gained detailed knowledge of multiple areas of a functioning theatre business. Marc Gruppe has been a playwright since his teenage years. His first play, “The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs,” premiered successfully on November 16, 1991 at the Forum Leverkusen. Since 1997 he has been publishing theater versions of famous children's classics (e.g. by the Brothers Grimm, Charles Dickens, Gerdt von Bassewitz, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Frances Hodgson Burnett and Ralf Isau) at the Vertriebsstelle und Verlag Deutscher Bühnenschriftsteller und Bühnenkomponisten (VVB) in Norderstedt. He is one of the most frequently performed German authors in the genre of Christmas fairy tales and children's theatre (including the premiere of “Der Drache Gertrud” at the Staatstheater Braunschweig in 2001, and “Peterchens und Annelieses Mondfahrt” at the Landesbühnen Sachsen-Anhalt and the Waldau Theater in Bremen). In January 2003, Marc published his first play for adults, “Edgar Wallace – Das indische Tuch”. In the same year he also founded the label Titania Medien together with Stephan Bosenius, which specialises in immersive audio dramatisations. Since then he has been the label's sole writer, director and producer. As of 2025, the label has released well over 300 audio dramatisations in the series Gruselkabinett, Sherlock Holmes, Grimms Märchen, Titania Special and Anne auf Green Gables. Since 2025, he has also been working as an author and editor of Titania Medien’s Sherlock Holmes novels. In September 2011 Marc Gruppe's stage adaptation of the bestselling thriller “Der Seelenbrecher” by Sebastian Fitzek premiered in Braunschweig. From 2002 to 2016 Marc Gruppe was the artistic director of the Volksbühne Bergisch Neukirchen in Leverkusen. During this time, he staged, inter alia, “Das indische Tuch”, “Das Haus in Montevideo”, the Kálmán operetta “Die Herzogin von Chicago”, the musicals “Der König und ich - Anna und the König von Siam”, “Anatevka”, “Kiss Me Kate!”, “My Fair Lady”, “The Sound of Music - Die Trapp-Familie”, “Camelot”, “Das Feuerwerk”, “Das Wirtshaus im Spessart”, “Sissy”, “Blondinen bevorzugt”, “Die Geisha” and “Cinderella”. In September 2016, Marc Gruppe's stage version of Sebastian Fitzek's debut novel “Die Therapie” premiered successfully at the Berliner Kriminal-Theater. Further productions of the stage thriller followed,...

Book preview

Book cover of Sherlock Holmes: The Abduction of the Count's SonBook cover of Sherlock Holmes: The Abduction of the Count's Son

Arthur Conan Doyle

Amy Onn

The Abduction of the Count’s Son

Copyright © 2025 Titania Medien GmbH

Elberfelder Straße 47, 40724 Hilden, Germany

Book editor: Stephan Bosenius

Translation: Dr. Kornel Kossuth

Copy editors: Dr. Daniela Stöger/Marc Gruppe

Illustration: Bastien Ephonsus

Layout: Lars Auhage

Sherlock Holmes logo and frame: Firuz Askin

Bibliographic information of the German National Library

The German National Library lists this publication in the German National Library; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.

This work, including all content, is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Reprinting or reproduction (including excerpts) in any form (print, photocopy or other method) as well as storage, processing, duplication, transmission and distribution using electronic systems of any kind or by any other means, in whole or in part, is prohibited without the prior express permission in writing of the publisher. All translation rights reserved. We explicitly reserve the right to use our works for text- and data-mining in accordance with Section 44b of the German Copyright Act (UrhG).

This work is based on true events, but is nonetheless fiction. Any similarities between non-historical characters and situations and living or dead persons are unintentional and purely coincidental.

ISBN 978-3-69027-005-2

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Content

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Preview

Chapter 1

My name is Dr. John Hamish Watson. Although I am nothing more than a simple military doctor, my name is now known all over the world. I owe this solely to one circumstance in my life – and it has nothing whatsoever to do with my actual profession. For many years I enjoyed the privilege of accompanying the investigative work of my friend Sherlock Holmes as a chronicler. It was always a pleasure to amaze my readers with the details of the master detective’s adventures.

Occasionally, however, there were cases whose reports were initially expressly not intended for publication for a variety of reasons. This was usually due to the client’s wish for discretion, or simply because of the explosive nature of the events described. These reports were sealed and stored in an archive until the time would finally come to relate these secret cases of the master detective.

The case of the abduction of the count’s son was particularly sensitive, as the investigation focused on the inner circle of an ancient noble family and those involved understandably were keen to avoid a scandal by being associated with this unpleasant event. In addition, the child’s parents were prominent members of the aristocracy who valued discretion. Several years passed before I was given permission to make the case public – and this was only to deter copycat criminals.

It was a typical late summer afternoon in my ‘grey phase’, as Sherlock Holmes had christened it. It was raining almost incessantly, and the whole of London was shrouded in a thick fog of smoke and dust from the coal furnaces. After the death of my beloved wife Mary I had moved back into my former room at 221b Baker Street in the master detective’s flat.

He was doing his best to shake me out of my lethargy. »What shall we do today, Watson? How about a little walk? With an umbrella, of course. I’m dying of boredom!«

»Feel free to do so. However, I shan’t be accompanying you. Ten horses couldn’t drag me out in this miserable weather. And as you know, death doesn’t come quite that quickly.«

»Perhaps not, but your Mary won’t come back to life if you keep moping around. Besides, I myself have every reason to share your melancholy.«

»Really?« I asked, my curiosity piqued.

»Of course! I haven’t had a client in weeks; there’s nothing for me to do. You’d be better off devoting yourself to giving my life meaning again instead of burying your head in the sand. After all, I’m still alive!«

The knock on our living room door prevented me from giving a suitable reply. Instead, I grumbled, »Well, there you go! Here comes the next case.«

»The next case?« sneered Holmes. »You, my dear fellow, are a hopeless case.«

»Oh, please!«

»Nobody rang the doorbell. And you really should be able to recognize those footsteps outside our door by now. Come in, Mrs. Hudson!«

Sherlock Holmes lifted a stack of newspapers off the table so that our landlady could set down the anticipated tray of tea and biscuits. At the same time, the door opened, and in came Mrs. Hudson, who proved herself a true stalwart, especially in times of need.

»I baked your favourite biscuits, Dr. Watson. Please help yourself. Don’t you think, Mr. Holmes, that Dr. Watson has become very thin?«

»Above all, he has become insufferable,« grumbled the master detective. »Nothing pleases him, and he has no desire for anything.«

»Now you can experience first-hand how we always feel when you’re in one of your moods.« Mrs. Hudson placed the plate of biscuits right in front of me and nodded her head